Medics said at least 23 of those people were killed and 200 others wounded near an aid distribution site in Rafah, the latest in daily mass shootings that have killed hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food since Israel imposed a new distribution system after partly lifting a near three-month total blockade.
Israel has put responsibility for distributing much of the aid it allows into Gaza into the hands of a new US-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates three sites in areas guarded by Israeli troops. The United Nations has rejected the plan, saying GHF distribution is inadequate, dangerous and violates humanitarian impartiality principles.
The GHF said in a statement that it has distributed more than 3mn meals at its four distribution sites without incident.
Relatives arrived at Nasser Hospital to mourn the dead. Women and children wept beside bodies wrapped in white shrouds.
Later Monday, local health authorities said Israeli gunfire killed at least five people and wounded dozens of others as crowds of Palestinians gathered along the coastal road awaiting UN-funded aid trucks to enter the northern Gaza area.
Witnesses said dozens of desperate people looted four truckloads of food packages.
The death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 55,432 martyrs, in addition to 128,923 wounded.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA, said in a post on X: "Scores of people have been killed & injured in the past days, including of starving people trying to get some food from a lethal distribution system."
Before the new system was set up, aid had been distributed to Gaza's 2.3mn residents mainly by UN agencies such as UNRWA, which employ thousands of staff inside Gaza and operate hundreds of sites across the enclave.
Lazzarini said Israel had not lifted restrictions on UN agencies including UNRWA bringing in aid, despite an abundance of assistance ready to be moved into the enclave.
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